Sunday, September 28, 2008

Manly Man?

I saw this on Popular Mechanics Website - 100 Skills Every Man Should Know. I decided to see how I stack up (and what I need to work on). So, much like my 200 Have-or-Have-not post, I decided to share my manliness with the whole intarweb.

Key:
Red means I HAVE done this
Blue means I'm reasonably certain that I CAN do this, and do it well
Black means I suck

Automotive
1. Handle a blowout - especially if it's Ada or Kate's
2. Drive in snow
3. Check trouble codes - I just go to Checker
4. Replace fan belt
5. Wax a car - I waxed the family suburban when I was 8 years old... granted I kicked the side door in. I was an angry child.
6. Conquer an off-road obstacle
7. Use a stick welder - I don't even know what this is
8. Hitch up a trailer
9. Jump start a car

Handling Emergencies
10. Perform the Heimlich
11. Reverse hypothermia - Just get naked and cuddle, right?
12. Perform hands-only CPR
13. Escape a sinking car

Home
14. Carve a turkey - not well...
15. Use a sewing machine - I could figure it out
16. Put out a fire
17. Home brew beer
18. Remove bloodstains from fabric
19. Move heavy stuff
20. Grow food
21. Read an electric meter
22. Shovel the right way
23. Solder wire
24. Tape drywall
25. Split firewood
26. Replace a faucet washer - ??
27. Mix concrete
28. Paint a straight line
29. Use a French knife - What is this?
30. Prune bushes and small trees
31. Iron a shirt
32. Fix a toilet tank flapper
33. Change a single-pole switch
34. Fell a tree - I chopped down a tree at a scout camp once with a hatchet. All the leaders were pretty ticked...
35. Replace a broken windowpane
36. Set up a ladder, safely
37. Fix a faucet cartridge
38. Sweat copper tubing
39. Change a diaper
40. Grill with charcoal
41. Sew a button on a shirt
42. Fold a flag

Medical Myths
43. Treat frostbite
44. Treat a burn
45. Help a seizure victim
46. Treat a snakebite
47. Remove a tick

Military Know-How
48. Shine shoes
49. Make a drum-tight bed - Probably not to military standards
50. Drop and give the perfect pushup - Just one, though

Outdoors
51. Run rapids in a canoe - This is something I'm good at
52. Hang food in the wild
53. Skipper a boat
54. Shoot straight
55. Tackle steep drops on a mountain bike - I've ridden from the top of the tram at Snowbird all the way down into the SL Valley.
56. Escape a rip current - Hint: swim parallel to the shore.

Primitive Skills
57. Build a fire in the wilderness
58. Build a shelter
59. Find potable water

Surviving Extremes - I won't profess to know anything about the real survival skills required to make it through a disaster unscathed. I like to think I'm prepared though.
60. Floods
61. Tornados
62. Cold
63. Heat
64. Lightning

Teach Your Kids
65. Cast a line
66. Lend a hand
67. Change a tire - As long as the lugs don't break
68. Throw a spiral
69. Fly a stunt kite
70. Drive a stick shift
71. Parallel park
72. Tie a bowline
73. Tie a necktie
74. Whittle - Not well
75. Ride a bike

Technology
76. Install a graphics card
77. Take the perfect portrait
78. Calibrate HDTV settings
79. Shoot a home movie
80. Ditch your hard drive

Master Key Workshop Tools
81. Drill driver
82. Grease gun
83. Coolant hydrometer
84. Socket wrench
85. Test light
86. Brick trowel
87. Framing hammer
88. Wood chisel
89. Spade bit
90. Circular saw
91. Sledge hammer
92. Hacksaw
93. Torque wrench
94. Air wrench
95. Infrared thermometer
96. Sand blaster
97. Crosscut saw
98. Hand plane
99. Multimeter
100. Feeler gauges

Ok. Truth be told, I thought that this would turn out more interesting than it did. Nonetheless, without scouts and working as a construction grunt for a few years, there would have been a bunch more things on the list that I hadn't done. There's still work to be done!

2 comments:

alisquire said...

I knew you were a good pick!

Steve said...

I remember the infamous tree incident at scout camp. I think we dragged a portion of the tree to the fire for fuel. I may be thinking of a different incident though, there may be multiple offences. By the way I have been lurking for a while, thought I would admit I've been blog spying.

Cheers from Canada!